Her Paladin
by Reparata
Summary: Leonard is off in the North Sea. Penny has a personal crisis. Sheldon intervenes as Leonard's surrogate. His parting words had been 'Look after her for me, buddy. I trust you. Be there for her when she needs me. You're her Paladin while I'm gone.'
1. Knockin' at Heaven's Door

A/N: Yes, I know. Two incomplete fics already but I'm blocked and trying to clear things up at bit.

Reparata

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Knock Knock Knocking at Heaven's Door

Penny hadn't come over for dinner and Sheldon was loath to throw away good food plus he knew she was home. He knew her schedule as well as he did his own. He placed her unopened containers in the carry out bag and snagged two spring rolls from the communal container and added them and got up and started to leave.

"Where are you off to, Batman? And hey, those were – " Raj started to protest the unfair division of spring rolls but a look from Sheldon made the words die in his throat.

He crossed the hall to Apartment 4B and gave his three knocks, each triplet interrupted by her name, 'Penny'.

There was no answer.

"Penny, I know you're in there. Please open the door. I've brought you your dinner and it's getting cold." He balanced all he carried precariously and knocked again – with the same result.

_'Perhaps she's sleeping or in the bathroom and can't hear me…Good Lord! Maybe she's fallen again and dislocated her shoulder.'_

Loudly, "Penny, I know you're in there but may be asleep or lying in the bathtub, injured and perhaps drowning as you lie unconscious in the slowly deepening bath water. I'm coming in!"

Since Leonard's departure for the North Sea, Penny had been slowly withdrawing from the normal 4A gatherings and Sheldon could tell how his absence was wearing on her but in all the time he'd known her she had never been thoughtless enough to blow off a free meal after it had been ordered.

Something was wrong. A problem called to Sheldon like a Siren called sailors of ancient Greek mythology to their doom.

He turned the knob but the door was locked. Drat!

Sheldon set down his burden and power-walked to his own apartment, and grabbed the emergency key from the basket. He could hear her words as clear as day saying, _'This is for emergencies only! No slipping in after I'm asleep and cleaning or whatever it is you feel the need to reorder in some freaky compliance with a theory you've concocted. I'm serious, Sheldon.'_

The last thing Leonard had said to Sheldon, other than '_quit yelling that we're not terrorists'_ was '_Look after her for me, buddy. I trust you. Be there for her when she needs me. You're her Paladin while I'm gone.'_

He took his responsibilities very seriously and he did exactly as his best friend would do were he here.

He crossed the hall, opened the door and bent and retrieved her meal and beverage and closed the door behind him with a hip bump. He set his burden on the kitchen island, first moving clothes, magazines and dirty dishes around to make enough space for it.

"Penny?" he said in a normal conversational tone, not wanting to startle her if she was sleeping but there was no answer. He knocked lightly on her closed bedroom door in his usual manner but again, no response.

Now he was worried…no, _concerned._ Worry was reserved for his Meemaw's health, the consideration and approbation his latest paper would engender, and his best friend's multiple disasters that awaited him in the North Sea.

"Penny, I'm coming in. Please be properly clothed. I don't wish to have a repeat of the 'dislocated shoulder' episode. I'm not the man I was back then. I would definitely peek, Penny."

'If that doesn't get a response from her, nothing will, and I'm obligated as her Paladin to 'suck it up' and risk her wrath to ensure her well being.'

The bedroom was empty, the bed, of course, unmade. The floor was littered with items of clothing and those little cardboard cards that fell out of magazines. He started to pick up items and put them in the waste can or clothes hamper but stopped him self, even though it required a lot of mental effort to do so.

The bathroom door was closed and when he went to knock and inform her of his presence he listened and heard the shower running but it was her terrified wail of 'Oh, God! What am I gonna do?', that galvanized him into action.

He slammed his palm against the door only once, so great was his fear for her, and said, "Penny, it's Sheldon Cooper and you're obviously in pain and so I'm coming in. Please cover yourself and I'll try to avert my gaze."

He pushed open the door and saw Penny sitting in the bathtub under the stream from the shower, rocking side-to-side saying the phrase that had first garnered his attention and prompted his invasion of her bathroom.

Her knees were pulled up against her chest and she was crying. He averted his eyes from her wet body and turned his back on her, literally, not figuratively. He would never abandon her especially now that he was her Paladin.

"Penny…are you injured? Can you get out of the tub on your own or do you require assistance?" She wasn't holding her arm as before so hopefully it was something minor. Then he had a errant thought that chilled him to the bone.

"Penny, has something happened to Leonard? You are his emergency contact should anything happen to him."

"Nooooo…" Her answer was long and drawn out as if she weren't really considering Sheldon's presence unusual. She still wept and snorted but when she raised her face up into the shower stream, his heart began racing with dread.

Terror. She was terrified and her face reflected whatever it was that had driven her to this sad state of being.

"Penny, please get out of the tub and talk with me. Whatever it is, we'll analyze it and work out a plan to avoid whatever has you so paralyzed with fear."

"There is no way to avoid what is going to happen to me…" She stood up in the tub and Sheldon put one hand over his eye and fumbled for a bath towel with the other.

She snatched the towel from his hand and wrapped it around her waist like a skirt and then stepped out of the tub and stood before him.

"Sheldon, give me your hand…I need to…just give me your hand." His face was scrunched up and his eyes were welded shut and she had to smile at the sight. He always made her smile when she really needed one. It was one reason she loved him as her best friend.

"Penny, wha – " He jerked back his hand as if he'd just encountered a dirty sock some postal worker with a grudge had shoved into his mailbox, but she had a vise-like grip on it.

"No, Sheldon, I want you to feel my breast. I – I want a second opinion, Moon Pie," and in a whisper, "Please?"

She felt his resistance melt and smirked at the look on his face. His eyes were scrunched together even more tightly and she felt a wave of warmth rush over her at how shy and gentlemanly he was. He hadn't even commented on her calling him 'Moon Pie' and she couldn't remember it ever going without comment.

She cupped her right breast, elevating it slightly and then placed his large, warm and trembling hand over it. The nipple hardened and she blushed furiously. This was Sheldon Cooper who wouldn't even hold hands with his aggressively over-sexed girlfriend, Amy, without a debate.

She pressed down on his fingertips and guided him along the right side of her breast. When his fingertips encountered the mass, his eyes flew open in shock and then his eyes fixed upon hers.

"Oh, Penny…" He didn't look down, keeping his eyes focused on her face, and it was her turn to be shocked when he gently removed his hand from her breast and cupped the left one, just as she had the right. His fingers moved deftly over it, pressing lightly and prodding here and there as he meticulously sought out a corresponding lump.

His arms went around her and she was just as surprised as he was with the hug.

"Do you have a history of mastitis, Penny? Some forms of…well it seems to follow family generations. Is there a history…"

"No, Shel, I just noticed it. I'm sorry for putting you through this and I know you must be all aquiver to sanitize your hands but – "

Sheldon slowly ended the hug but ran his hands down her arms until he held both her hands in his. _'Penny cannot be ill. Penny cannot have…no, of course not…it has to be mastitis or a blocked duct or something else common and easily remedied or ignored.'_

"Leonard told me to look after you in his absence and I shall, Penny. First things first. Please put on clothing and then while you eat your dinner, we'll discuss our plans." He turned and walked out of the bathroom without another word.


	2. Quit

Chapter 2

To those who expected a chapter, my apologies.

To the douche bag guest who hid behind anonymity…congrats.

I quit.

I will not put another word to paper for this or any other fic including those in progress.

Reparata


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